California's new law that requires students to obtain “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement” that is “ongoing throughout a sexual activity” does little to ameliorate female assault vulnerability on today's college campuses, according to an opinion piece by Cynthia Allen of Online Athens.
Because the California statute follows the "preponderance of evidence" standard rather than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard, university authorities only have to be about 50 percent certain accusers are being honest in order to label "brand" the individuals accused of rape as rapists. The statute, then, removes culpability from the victim, since the accused is essentially guilty until evidence of consent is found to prove otherwise.
To read the rest of the opinion, click here.
